MLB Player News

As far as we can tell, Cruz is only officially retiring from LIDOM. However, there’s also been nothing to suggest he’ll give MLB another try, as he decided against signing anywhere after being released by the Padres in July. The 43-year-old Cruz hit .245/.283/.399 in 152 plate appearances for San Diego this year. He’s second among “active” major leaguers with 464 homers, 47 behind Miguel Cabrera. Assuming that he joins Cabrera in retirement, Giancarlo Stanton, at 402, will take over as the active leader next year.

Fraley is back in right field and hitting fifth following a brief two-game absence due to a right leg contusion. The 30-year-old will continue serving in a righty-mashing platoon role.

Romo gets the call to join Chicago’s active roster in a backup role with the club deciding to move on from veteran Reese McGuire. The 24-year-old catcher got into 19 games for the Rockies over the past two years, hitting .167 (9-for-54) during that span.

Chicago is pulling the plug on the McGuire experiment after he went 5-for-29 with three RBI in 11 games. The well-traveled 31-year-old signed a one-year pact following Kyle Teel’s hamstring injury last month.

Blue Jays skipper John Schneider made it official that Yesavage will return to Toronto’s injury-decimated rotation with Eric Lauer going to the bullpen. The other ripple effect is Dylan Cease being pushed back to Monday with Patrick Corbin starting Sunday against Cleveland. The 22-year-old top pitching prospect is unlikely to shoulder a significant workload early on, but he still offers enough strikeout upside to warrant a roster spot in all fantasy formats.

It’s fair to wonder how much longer the Cardinals will continue sticking with Scott, despite his defensive abilities, since he’s hitting .197/.254/.213 with three steals in 24 games this season. They have top prospect Joshua Báez, who has homered five times in 21 games at Triple-A Memphis this season, waiting on the doorstep of the majors if they decide to make a change in the near future. Báez is striking out nearly 30 percent of the time and could use some additional seasoning, but Scott’s lack of production figures to shorten his timeline to the big leagues.

Getz elaborated that the White Sox are opting to proceed with an abundance of caution with Teel’s ramp-up process given how much time he’s missed recovering from a hamstring strain during last month’s World Baseball Classic. The 24-year-old backstop figures to be cleared at some point soon to head to Triple-A Charlotte, but fantasy managers shouldn’t anticipate him back until at least early May.

Chaparro returns in a bench role for the Nationals after getting into three contests last month at the outset of the season. The 26-year-old has homered three times in 18 games at Triple-A Rochester. He can be safely ignored in fantasy leagues for now.

Both clubs are permitted an extra position player for the international showdown. Song would be making his major-league debut if he gets into a game. The 29-year-old signed a four-year, $15 million contract during the offseason before missing time with an oblique strain during spring training.

Piñango receives his first call up to the majors with Nathan Lukes (hamstring) hitting the injured list. The 23-year-old has some over-the-fence pop, but still hits the ball on the ground too much to envision a huge power breakthrough. He’s .288/.370/.488 with three homers and two steals in 22 games for Triple-A Buffalo this season. He belted 15 homers in 131 games across two levels in Toronto’s system last year. He’s an interesting prospect, but unlikely to make an instant fantasy impact.

Lukes is likely to miss a couple weeks after suffering a hamstring strain during Friday’s game against the Guardians. The 31-year-old’s absence is another hit to the Blue Jays’ outfield depth, but he’s a non-factor for fantasy purposes.